


This is How a Heart Breaks

by bitsnbobs



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Break Up, Canon Compliant, Gen, Ifs and buts, M/M, Mentions prison briefly, Mentions the ONS, Mentions the baby, angsty, just a short conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-12 01:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11727015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsnbobs/pseuds/bitsnbobs
Summary: They can't avoid each other forever. Aaron asks Rebecca a question when they are stood next to each other at the bar.'“Would you have told me?” he blurted it out, turning to face her for an answer.'





	This is How a Heart Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> Based on some thoughts I saw on tumblr.

It was inevitable in a small village that they would see each other. Be near each other. It didn’t have to be for long though, and it seemed like an unspoken agreement between the pair that they would move apart as quickly as possible. 

It wasn’t happening tonight. They seemed to have got themselves stuck, waiting for drinks at the bar, next to each other. And sure, they could have stepped away, but they both had something in their heads telling them that they weren’t children. They wouldn’t be that petty, they wouldn’t-

“I wonder where Charity is?” Rebecca asked, trying to lean over the bar as much as she could with her ever growing bump. 

Aaron briefly flicked his eyes to her and shrugged, “Reading magazines in the back probably.” He felt Rebecca’s eyes on him as though she hadn’t expected him to respond. He really wanted her to look away again. 

“Look, Aaron, I-"

“Don’t,” Aaron cut in quickly, “Don’t. Not here.”

Rebecca’s head dropped and she looked away from him again. Aaron sighed and tried to just forget she was there. But he couldn’t. There was a weird energy building up inside and-

“Would you have told me?” he blurted it out, turning to face her for an answer. 

Rebecca blinked, surprised, “Told you what?”

Aaron took a breath, “Told me about you and Robert?”

“There is no me and Robert.”

That was almost laughable, if it didn’t feel like being stabbed. Aaron closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure before he explained, “I just want to know, if you would have told me about sleeping with Robert, if I was still in prison?”

“I-" Rebecca stuttered, clearly not expecting the question, “I- there was nothing to tell. It didn't mean anything.”

Aaron scoffed at that, “You’re having his baby.” Rebecca’s hand reached instinctively over her bump and it made Aaron’s stomach twist, “That’s not nothing.”

“We only did it once, Aaron.”

“But you wanted more.”

“I didn’t-"

“Don’t lie,” Aaron shook his head, “Don’t.”

Rebecca’s shoulder’s dropped, “Aaron, I don’t know what you want from me. I don’t want Robert now.”

“No, because we should all save ourselves from him, shouldn’t we?” Aaron said, repeating words she had once thrown at him, “Although, you are quite happy to work with him nowadays.”

“That’s different, ok?” Rebecca protested, “It’s business.”

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose and lent on the bar with his elbows. He shouldn’t have started this conversation. It wasn’t getting him anywhere. He didn’t even know what he wanted or expected from it. 

“Aaron,” Rebecca started, quietly, “I never wanted any of this.”

“Neither did I,” Aaron whispered, rubbing at his temples. He stood back up straight and decided to try again with his original question, “Would you have told me?”

“Why does it matter?” Rebecca’s eyes were wide.

“Because,” Aaron really hated that he could feel tears pricking, “Because, I was supposed to be in prison for a year. I could have still been there now. And sometimes,” he swallowed and bobbed his head, “I think about what would have happened if I hadn’t won my appeal. If I’d have had to carry on in that hell hole, while at the same time, you’d be out here, having my husband’s baby.” There were tears in Rebecca’s eyes now. Aaron hated those too. He snorted darkly, “Sometimes I wonder if Robert would have actually known. Perhaps you wouldn’t have even told him.”

“I would have always have told him,” Rebecca argued, “I want my baby to have a dad.”

Aaron couldn’t be bothered pointing out that she had said differently often enough. It just didn’t seem worth it. He smiled at her, sadly, “I am sorry, you know?”

Rebecca almost flinched at that, “You’re sorry?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said, sincerely, “I shouldn’t have threatened you. Or threatened to threaten you.”

“You were angry,” Rebecca tilted her head, “It was understandable.”

“’Understandable’,” Aaron repeated with a huff, “Right.”

There was a moment where Aaron could almost feel Rebecca’s eyes burning through him, until, “I wouldn’t have told you,” she admitted, “But, there is no way of knowing whether Robert would’ve either.”

Aaron nodded. Not quite knowing how to feel. She was right. They were in the Land of If’s and But’s. There was no point in him asking. 

“It hurts,” is all he could think of to say in response. He looked straight at her again, emotions bubbling over, “It hurts.” 

Rebecca’s eyes fell to floor and she bit at her lip, “I didn’t intend to hurt you.”

“I know,” Aaron shrugged, suddenly tired, “You want to be a mum,” he gave small smile, “He’ll be a loved kid.”

“He will,” Rebecca agreed, looking up and smiling at Aaron’s words, except his expression made her face fall; she could see his walls crumbling. 

Aaron looked away quickly, then pulled away from the bar and left. His heart broken all over again. 

…


End file.
